Struggling to focus on research when the world is ‘on fire’? Some ways to cope
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Researchers building support networks and engaging in political action say it helps reduce burnout from news overwhelm.Credit: Matthieu Delaty/AFP via Getty
War. The disruption of global alliances. Economic uncertainty. Humanitarian crises. The impacts of global warming.
The deluge of disruptive news from around the globe is making it hard for researchers to focus on their day-to-day work and leading to burnout for scientists who are not affected first-hand by these events.
Alex Rich, a neuroscience PhD student at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, says that the current news environment has taken a toll on the work and graduation timeline of many of her peers. Although she has met her deadlines and goals, continuing her daily research has come at the expense of her health, relationships and other aspects of her personal life. “I worry about falling behind every day as the burnout feels heavier.”
“I find it difficult to focus when the world feels like it’s unravelling,” says Aga Seretny, a postdoctoral researcher at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany. Similar sentiments were shared in a post on Reddit in January, after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A self-described fourth year PhD student in the United States said it is “hard to do a PhD when world is on fire”. The post attracted hundreds of upvotes and sympathetic comments.
The state of mental exhaustion caused by keeping up with distressing news has a name: news overwhelm. Although it is not recognized as a formal disorder with diagnostic criteria, it is acknowledged by mental-health charities and organizations. The term distinguishes between emotional distress induced by the news and the first-hand experiences of people living through conflicts and in life-threatening circumstances.
“It acknowledges that prolonged instability has ripple effects across the systems that rely on careful judgement and complex thinking,” says Desiree Dickerson, a clinical psychologist in Christchurch, New Zealand.
News overwhelm
It is well grounded in research studies that news overload can lead to stress, anxiety and depression. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in the United States, for example, greater exposure to news about the events was linked to higher levels of both mental and physical ailments in people years later1.
In the past few years, researchers have documented similar mental-health impacts of excessive media consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey studies revealed that people who frequently sought pandemic-related news reported higher levels of emotional distress2,3, such as feelings of hopelessness and anxiety — and in some cases, experienced an increase in the symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder4.
How PhD students and other academics are fighting the mental-health crisis in science